The Skeleton Dance
About The Skeleton Dance
At midnight an owl sits against the moon, a church bell sends bats out of the tower, a dog howls, and two cats fight on a grave. One skeleton climbs out, panics at the owl, pulls off its own head, and throws the skull. The head knocks the owl's feathers loose and bounces back. Four skeletons dance. One plays another's spine with thigh bones. Another uses a cat's tail as a violin. A rooster crows. They tangle, dive into the grave, and a bony arm reaches back for a pair of feet left outside.
Cast & crew
More about The Skeleton Dance
Walt Disney directed and produced the first Silly Symphony. Ub Iwerks animated it with Les Clark and Wilfred Jackson. Columbia Pictures distributed the short. The release date is August 22, 1929. The negative cost on the filmography is $5,485.40.
Themes
Background
Disney made it in 1929 as a music-led short with no continuing character, the first of the Silly Symphonies, and Columbia put it out that August.
Reviews
Variety, on July 17, 1929, said the laugh count was high and singled out the skeleton that plays a partner's spine with thigh bones, timed to a xylophone.
Music
Carl W. Stalling composed the score, built around Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre, and matched it to the dancing.
Preservation
The short entered the U.S. public domain on January 1, 2025. Disney issued it in the 2001 Walt Disney Treasures set Silly Symphonies, and again in the 2002 Treasures set Mickey Mouse in Black and White.
Notes
- The timed length given with the plot breakdown is 5 minutes 31 seconds. Wikidata lists 6 minutes.
- The copyright was renewed in 1957. As a 1929 publication it entered the U.S. public domain on January 1, 2025.
- Carl W. Stalling's score uses Camille Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre.
- A July 1929 date also appears on the Wikidata publication list, ahead of the August 22 release.
Scenes
- A skeleton throws its own skull at the owl and strips the feathers.
- Thigh bones play another skeleton's spine like a xylophone.
- An arm comes back out of the grave and yanks in the feet that were left behind.
Influenced by
- Danse macabre (Camille Saint-Saëns)
Also available
- Internet Archive (the-skeleton-dance_1929)
- Wikimedia Commons (The Skeleton Dance (1929, UHD).webm)
- Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies (2001)
